After winning Game 2 in double overtime, the New York Rangers have a 2-0 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes in their second-round series and are two wins away from reaching the Eastern Conference Final. Now, the series shifts to Raleigh, North Carolina, for Games 3 and 4, which are now must-win games for the Hurricanes. They are going to bring their best and the Rangers are going to have to weather the storm.
Just like they did last series against the Washington Capitals, the Rangers have the chance to finish this series on the road. If they have any chance of doing this and getting past Carolina as quickly as possible, they need to continue to play their style of game and not let the Hurricanes overwhelm them. Here are three keys to victory for the Rangers if they want to win Games 3 and 4 on the road in Carolina.
Continued Special Teams Dominance
Through the first two games of this series, the Rangers have dominated on special teams while the Hurricanes just haven’t been able to figure it out, which is what has hurt them the most. They have gone 0-for-10 in these two games and have given up four power-play goals to the Rangers, including the double-overtime goal by former Hurricane, Vincent Trocheck with Brady Skjei in the box for cross-checking. Maybe Carolina being back home for the next two games will give them the spark they need on their special teams because if they can’t figure it out, the Rangers will have this series wrapped up in no time.
The Rangers, meanwhile need to continue what they have been doing on their special teams. On the power play, they have gotten goals from Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad, and Chris Kreider. They have so many weapons on their top unit and they don’t stand still either; they are always moving and that is a strength for them because it gets the Hurricanes’ penalty killers out of position since they like to pressure the puck carrier. The Rangers need to stay lethal on their power play because it could ultimately decide who wins this series. The penalty kill has been fantastic and hasn’t given the Hurricanes much in this series; they also put the pressure on the puck carrier and it has worked for them all season long. If they can shut down Carolina’s top players on the power play, it will give them the best chance of winning this series.
Igor Shesterkin’s Excellence Continues
The main reason the Rangers won Game 2 was because of Igor Shesterkin and his unbelievable play. He made 54 saves, which ties him for third in Rangers’ history for the most saves in a playoff game with his idol, Henrik Lundqvist. He currently has a 2.01 goals against average (GAA) and a .929 save percentage (SV%) in these playoffs and he is the only undefeated goalie left among the eight remaining teams. He has outplayed Frederik Andersen so far in this series and that will need to continue if the Rangers want to win this series. The team knows the Hurricanes will shoot the puck from everywhere so they need to make sure Shesterkin can see the puck coming at him (especially since the Hurricanes have gotten most of their goals off of deflections in this series.) They need to play better defensively in front of him and let him make the saves because he is on top of his game right now.
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Speaking of Andersen, the Rangers need to continue to fire pucks at him because he has looked very shaky in this series so far. He has allowed four goals in each of the first two games and his stats have dropped as the playoffs go on to a 2.58 GAA and a .899 SV%. While the Hurricanes may go back to him for Game 3, they might also opt to go with Pyotr Kochetkov and give Andersen a break after going through a doubl-overtime game. Even if the do switch goalies, the Rangers have the edge with Shesterkin playing some of the best hockey of his career right now.
Matt Rempe’s Playing Time & Filip Chytil’s Potential Return
One of the biggest questions heading into this series is what will the Rangers would do with Matt Rempe. While his presence is good in the Rangers’ lineup, he hasn’t played a single shift in the third period of either game so far and didn’t play in overtime. How long will the Rangers go playing 11 forwards in the third period? It’s obvious they don’t trust Rempe yet in these tight games in the playoffs so maybe it is time for a change. If they are going to make a change, it should be to bring Filip Chytil back into the lineup. He has been a full participant at practice for almost a month now and he hasn’t played since Nov. 2, when he was injured in a game against Carolina. His game fits better against a team like Carolina and since he has been cleared, putting him into the lineup should be a consideration.
While the Rangers might be waiting to lose a game first before making changes, they need to consider that playing with essentially 11 forwards in the third periods of these close-scoring games isn’t the best idea. Chytil would provide speed and scoring ability and they would be able to trust him to play in tight games, ensuring they don’t put extra pressure on their top players. Bringing him back into the lineup might even give the team that much more of a spark and could give them more energy going forward. Chytil is a very good player and his return to the lineup could be a smart move if the Rangers want to finish this series of as quickly as possible.
The Rangers have a chance to finish this series in Carolina and while the Hurricanes are going to bring everything they’ve got, the Rangers know how to beat them. If they can continue to play the way they have and maybe get a potential boost with the return of Chytil, the Rangers have a great chance of ending this series in four games and moving one step closer to winning the Stanley Cup.